Seven Days
by Rakora
Summary: Lucy has never celebrated Halloween before, and the members of Fairy Tail only have seven days to show her just how awesome it can be. M for epilogue; otherwise the rest of the chapters are going to be rated T at highest.
1. Prologue

Prologue

"That is so sad. I never knew you were such a deprived child! I'm so sorry Lucy!" Levy cupped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide.

Lucy sighed and rested her forehead on the table she was sitting at and closed her eyes. "It's alright Levy, you had no way of knowing."

"Knowing what?"

Lucy didn't have to look up to know that it was Natsu who'd taken the vacant seat across from her. She'd know that husky rumble of a voice anywhere. Sometimes, especially when she wasn't expecting it, the sound would even go as far as to arouse goosebumps on her skin and send chills up her spine.

Three years ago he officially turned 18, and apparently when a dragon slayer hits that age they start puberty. No, not the puberty that had hair growing in strange places and acne spouting up inconveniently; he had that happen with the rest of the guys.

Gajeel had said that the difference between Dragon Slayer puberty and regular puberty was that it was separated into two time periods. The first part focusing on bodily changes, the second developing emotional changes.

When Lucy asked why everything didn't happen at once like regular people Gajeel had only huffed at her with a nasty snarl. _"Imagine a Natsu that was awkward in his own skin _and _constantly trying to get into girls' pants. Not very pretty mental image is it, Bunny Girl?"_

Gajeel was right, it wasn't. She had a lot of trouble dealing with Natsu _now_, and he was 21 years old, settled into his female crazed mindset, and even a bit calmer. She didn't wanna think about how he would have acted if he was going through this at the age of thirteen.

Lucy never thought she'd see the day when Natsu Dragneel acted like the rest of men.

She couldn't really say she was upset by it. Now, it was much easier to get him to do things for her. A little tug on a zipper here, and a heated look there, and soon her laundry would be done. Of course, after about the fifth time, she realized that she'd be better off coaxing him into doing her dishes. She still hasn't gotten a couple pairs of her sexy undies back from him yet…

"Luce? Earth to Lucy Heartfilia!" Said dragon slayer was ruffling her hair. Groaning, Lucy titled her head to look up at Natsu. She swatted his hand away and scowled at him. Despite his face becoming much more…masculine and defined, he still made the same cute expressions he did when they first met.

"What?" Her voice was dully tinted with hints of annoyance.

"What was Levy so upset about," Natsu looked over his shoulder when there was a loud gasp. At the bar, Levy was leaning against the counter, animatedly talking to Lisanna and Cana. The other two girls were both leering from Lucy to Levy with a semi-disbelieving expression plastered onto their faces, "It has to be good considering Cana looks shocked. She has a stalemate face that could put Erza's to shame."

Lucy nodded her agreement. "Apparently, it's weird that I've never celebrated Halloween."

"…." Natsu blinked at her, a cheesy smile spreading across his cheeks. It was big, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. When she didn't return the smile his face slowly started to fall. "You are kidding…right?"

"…no…."

Natsu, much to his credit, didn't freak out and burn the entire guild down. He didn't even start yelling or screaming. He calmly stood up, walked over to wear Juvia and Gray were sitting, and tapped the dark haired man on the shoulder. When Gray turned to look at him, Natsu didn't waste anytime in punching him in the face.

Then, like he didn't just randomly go up to his best friend and knock his freakin' lights out; he returned to the table and sat down in front of Lucy again. He put his hands on the table top and intertwined them, twiddling his thumbs in an innocent manner. "Please tell me, Lucy-dearest, why you haven't brought this to my attention until now. I've known you for what," He paused in thought for a brief second, "four years?" His voice was scary calm. The type of calm that might blow up in her face if she didn't choose her words correctly.

"It was never brought up and I didn't feel the need to mention it."

He leaned forward, his face coming to a stop a foot away from her own. His breath smelled of apple cider. It was his favorite drink after all. "You're telling me that every year the guild sets-up for Halloween—hanging decorations, putting together the Dread Fest, dressing up and attending the Fairy Tail Halloween Party—it hasn't crossed your mind once to tell _anyone_, even your partner and _best friend_ that you had never experienced the true epicness of Halloween?"

Well shit. That sounds about right. "…Yeah."

"You've never been in a haunted house?"

"Nope."

"Ever gotten lost in a corn maze?"

"Nu-uh."

"No Haunted Woods walks?"

"Exactly."

He winced and looked away. "I take it you've never been trick or treating either then."

"Never."

"God, Luce. I suppose it's time for me, the awesome, handsome, courageous, _hot_ dragon to show his breathtakingly pretty princess the delights of Halloween. Am I right?" His smirk was only a little frightening, the sexiness of his raspy voice and devious grin definitely drowned out the utter fear she should be feeling about now.

Lucy knew she would regret saying this. That she would be cursing herself for her lack of good judgment. "You know Natsu; I think you may be right for once."

Usually, she would have smacked him for the flirty comment. Usually, she would have tried to talk her way out of spending so much potential alone time with him, because damn-it, he was one of the most touchy-feely guys she'd ever met. So, by all rights he had a couple sound reasons for being shocked by her easy acceptance. She was even a little shocked by it.

But he was so shocked that even his super dragon slayer senses didn't tingle until Gray's fist collided with the side of his head and a chair crashed into his skull-courteous of Juvia.

Lucy couldn't help but bust into laughter. The look on Natsu's face was _that_ priceless.

* * *

><p><em>So yeah, this is the beginning of a quick series of Halloween related shorts. I wanted to experiment with a more mature Natsu, so I created this weird alternate world in which Natsu is just as perverted as the next guy. XD <em>

_I plan on updating this everyday until Halloween from here on out. There will be nine chapters. Prologue-seven days of Halloween goodness-epilogue. _

_And I haven't forgotten about Wheel of Fortune, I just have to get these plot bunnies out of my head before I can write the next chapter of that o.o; please don't kill me guys!_

_Anyway, hope to see ya'll next chapter, yo. _

_Until then Rakora out. _


	2. Chapter One

An A-_**MAZE**_-ING Race

The next day was cold, really really cold. It was so cold that even with three layers of sweat shirts, and two pairs of sweat pants on Lucy was still shivering.

She didn't blame the sun, even though it was hiding behind a large cluster of clouds.

She didn't blame the brutally chilled wind, even though it was relentlessly brushing up against her frozen form.

She didn't even blame Natsu for putting her in this situation in the first place.

She was right to think she'd be cursing herself in the future because that is exactly what she was doing right now, and oh look, it was the next day.

As a particularly bitter gust of wind sweep over her, she looked to the sky. Pleading eyes searched out the faint outline of the sun. All she wanted was for it to share its warm.

"Don't look so pathetic all your life, Luce." Natsu hooked an arm around her neck and tucked her body closer to his. She didn't even care that his hand was precariously close to the curve of her breast. He was _warm_ and dear god, warmth was exactly what she needed right now.

Natsu chuckled, "If you were so cold, you shoulda told me. There are _ways_ a man can make a woman warm, you know?" She felt the curve of his smirk against the crown of her head.

Blushing, she pushed him and his wandering hand away. Leave it to him to wreck a perfectly nice moment with unsightly innuendos. Besides it wasn't like she _needed_ his warmth or anything. If he was going to be a jerk about it then she could fend for herself.

"Oh Luce, don't give me that look." She didn't even know she was giving him a look. "You know you were thinking along the same lines too. I see that blush on your cheeks." He winked at her which only served to make her pink tinted cheeks redder.

"I really hope this is a phase." She muttered to herself, crossing her arms and looking at the other lines of people adjacent to her.

"I don't think it is, seeing you get all flustered is too entertaining for this to be 'just a phase'."

Ignoring him and the heat spreading down her neck, she looked around the area. She was currently standing in one of four lines for the Corn Maze Race. What the staff did was break their group into four pairs. Her and Natsu standing in the first line together [at his insistence, personally she wanted to go with Levy], Gray and Juvia stood in the second, Gajeel and Levy the third, and Erza and Lisanna in the fourth.

The nice staff woman who was explaining the object of the maze to her had said that the object of the game was to beat the other teams that you were competing against. The first pair out of the maze would win a prize.

Sounds fun right? That was certainly what Lucy had thought at first. But after thirty minutes of waiting in blistering cold weather, all she really wanted to do was go home and cuddle up in her bed. Maybe read a book, maybe take a nap.

She didn't _need_ to learn the fun aspects of Halloween. In fact, she was content watching others have fun. What she _needed_ was warmth, and she sure as hell wasn't getting it stand around waiting in a line.

"Look, come here, I promise I won't try anything weird or say anything that may make you uncomfortable. I wouldn't want you catching a cold because I was being stupid." Natsu gestured her to come closer to him, "Besides, I have enough body heat to keep a whole third world country warm, and if it stops your complaining then I suppose I could share some of it with you."

Lucy figured that she should stop thinking out loud. It was getting to the point where she was doing it without even noticing she was doing it.

"Eh, I don't mind it. One of these days you may actually accidentally admit how hot you think I am. That'd be pretty awesome."

She almost face palmed. "Shut up and come here. I thought you said you'd be good!"

He laughed and scratched the back of his neck. "I couldn't resist, that was the last one for now, promise?"

"Fine."

Natsu brushed up against her and pulled her into his side. The warmth felt so good that she didn't bother hiding the slight blush reclaiming her cheeks. She felt his hand grip her side.

Well, at least he was honest about keeping his hands on neutral territory.

"Well, I did promise I wouldn't do anything weird, right?"

Damn-it! She really had to stop doing that!

"Yes, yes you do, Luce."

She couldn't help but stomp her heel on his foot and relish in the unmanly squawk of pain he made. Refusing to meet his heated glare, which she was sure to find if she looked up, she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Just because I keep calling you on your new habit don't mean you can go all Erza on me!"

Now that Natsu was being civil _and _keeping her warm she would be able to enjoy herself. Maybe this ordeal wasn't as bad as she originally thought. As long as Natsu was here, nothing truly bad could go wrong right? Sure, he's a little too flirtatious at times, but he would always be there for her. Even if it was as simple as being her heater.

"Aw, that's kinda sweet Luce!"

"GRRR—"

XxXx

Now, she was not only cursing herself for agreeing to this yesterday, but she was also cursing her choice of clothing. She was so _warm_ now. So warm that it made moving difficult. Not to mention the fancy heels she wore.

Why the hell did she wear those anyway?

"I don't know Luce, but you better pick up the pace or we're not gonna win!"

That's another thing that didn't change when Natsu finished his…change…. He was still just as competitive as he was when she first met him, maybe even a little more.

Sometimes, Lucy found those details a little comforting. Proof that the Natsu she first met and grew to respect was still hidden under all those oozing layers of manly sex appeal. Yes, she'll admit it, even before he went through his second bout of puberty he was good looking. But now that he is aware of his attractiveness he uses it to his advantage.

At the rate he's going at he'll be no better than Loke by this time next year.

Abruptly, Natsu stopped, making her smack into his back. "What—"

"Fuck, another dead-end." He swore and turned on her, "Look Luce, this is our third dead-end within fifteen minutes. You're going to have to move faster."

"I'm moving as fast as I can!" She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes up at him defiantly. "I would like you to try running is six inch heels."

He stared at her blankly.

"My point exactly."

"If it's so difficult why don't you stop being so weird and take them off." He suggested, voice tight.

"What do I do with them then? I left my bag in the bin at the beginning of the maze."

"Uhh…hold them?"

"I don't wanna lug them around with me though!"

Scowling down at her, he grabbed her by the shoulders, "Fine, I'm not going to argue with you. If you aren't going to make an effort to move faster then I'm going to have to move for the both of us."

"What—"

She didn't have the mere second needed to finish her question as he already had her tossed over his shoulder, one arm wrapped around her thighs just below her butt. His other arm was holding her legs in place, probably so she couldn't kick him.

Before she knew it, they were moving. He was going so quickly that everything was blurring together. She couldn't tell where a turn was until he'd already taken it and was a couple feet down the new path. It was like a roller coaster, but so much worse because the freakin' cart was making borderline indecent comments.

"Damn Luce, you smell wicked good right here." She didn't know where he was talking about exactly, but considering where his head was, she had a good guess as to where he was alluding to. She felt a bit awkward.

Apparently, he figured that if she didn't reply, the subject was a safe topic. What a silly silly man. "Don't get me wrong, you generally smell good. But this is _different_. Natural. Kinda musty smelling. I like it."

God, if there is a God, please let this maze race come to an end soon. I don't know how long I can take this.

"Huh? Take what Luce?"

She let her head fall onto his shoulder blade. Why does she keep doing that? "Nothing. Just…talk about something else. Or better yet, don't talk at all until I can look at you."

"Aw, you wanna see my handsome face?"

"Not what I was getting at, Natsu."

"But it was what I was getting at." She was pretty sure that if she was facing him, he'd be waggling his eye brow suggestively.

"That doesn't make any sense."

"_You_ don't make any sense."

She didn't bother to justify that with an answer. Whoever said that men never actually grow up was being entirely truthful. That was a grade school comeback if she'd ever heard one.

She supposed that she was happy that part of him hadn't changed. It was hard enough adjusting to his new opinions regarding female affairs, but if he'd started acting like an adult she feared she wouldn't be able to act the same around him.

Matter-of-fact that would be terrifying.

"Fuck," He came to an abrupt stop, "Another fucking dead-end."

"When did you develop such a potty mouth? Maybe you should stop hanging around Gajeel so often. He's starting to rub off on you." She said this knowing exactly what type of reaction she was going to get out of him.

"I do _not_ act like Gajeel! You don't see me fawning over a girl 24/6!"

"Seven, it's 24/7, Natsu."

"Whatever! I don't go around growling at people and eating iron either! I have _NOTHING _in common with that sorry excuse of a dragon slayer! I'm a better fighter than he is, a better ally. Plus, I am ten times hotter than he can ever hope to be!"

"Natsu, you're ranting."

"_You're _ranting!"

Letting her arm dangle down his back, Lucy pouted at the rows of corn stalks encasing them. Breathing out a huge sigh, she closed her eyes. "Yes, that is exactly what I'm doing." She replied sarcastically.

"Goddamnit, not only did you just compare me to that ass dragon, but you also made us lose!" He unceremoniously dropped her onto the ground. She landed flat out on her back, spread eagle. Putting his hands on his hips he peered down at her disapprovingly, "Great job Luce!"

"How can you tell? I haven't heard anything saying we lost." She glared up at him, "And how did _I _make us lose. There's no _I_ in team, you know. If we lost, it was both of our faults."

"If you would have taken your shoes off I bet we would have creamed'em. But no, you had to be weird and _make_ me carry you!"

Outraged, Lucy stood up and dusted herself off. Returning her aggravated gaze back to Natsu's eyes, she poked him in the chest with a finger and steeled her glare. "First of all I did NOT ask you to carry me. Second off, you didn't have to drop me on my ass. Third off, you never told me how you know Erza and Lisanna won!"

"I know because I can smell them waiting for us at the other side of the corn field. Just like I can smell Assface and his weird water girlfriend over there," He motioned vaguely to his right, "ass dragon and Levy are over there, "He motioned to his left, "They've been in the same area for a while now. And I dropped you because you are _heavy_!"

Ignoring the insult, she spoke with a thin voice. "Wait a minute, so you're telling me you knew where everyone was this whole time?"

"Maybe, why does it matter?"

"We could have been finished a long time ago if you just followed them! All we would have had to do was get to the pair that was farther along and figure it out from there!"

"But that would have ruined the fun for you!"

"But we would have _won_ and we probably wouldn't be having this argument."

"Goddamnit! Shitface and water girl beat us!" He grabbed her hand and smiled at her, albeit the grin seemed a little forced. He hated losing more than he hated ice cream.

He hated ice cream A LOT.

"Time to cheat, I refuse to come in dead last. That would mean me getting done in by that iron eater!"

He pulled her towards the dead-end and weaved through the corn stalks that blocked his path. Lucy had a difficult time not trampling the stalks. Natsu was going at a pace that she found hard to match. Or at least match without completely destroying the corn.

She had to tilt her head down to shield her face from the leaves that scraped against her and the seeds that stuck to her sweaty skin. She couldn't wait to get home and take a shower. Maybe the warm water would wash the stinging sensation away.

She would have never guessed that the leaves of the corn would be as scratchy as they were. Her skin was probably red with irritation, it sure itched like it was.

"Almost there," Natsu whispered. He swiftly veered to the left, "let's find the path again so our cheating isn't completely obvious."

"Like the seeds sticking to us isn't proof enough?" She retorted mockingly.

He didn't respond. When she stepped onto the clear path of the maze she exclaimed in relief. "Finally, that was like what I envisioned hell to be like, only with tons of corn."

Natsu spun to face her, his grip on her hand not loosening a bit. "But hey, we beat the iron eater, didn't we?" He began to walk backwards. The light of the setting sun outlined his figure in an almost angelic manner.

She scoffed. He was no angel. Far from one in fact.

"What's so funny?"

She shook her head, still grinning. "Nothing. It wasn't important."

"I don't believe you."

"Hmm?"

"You don't do that unless you thought of something really funny."

"Well," She thought for a moment, staring up into his face. Despite having such boyish expressions, his face in this light could be considered quite beautiful. For whatever reason she wanted to tell him just that. Instead she said, "I was surprised that I actually had fun. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it definitely wasn't me enjoying myself." She smiled sweetly.

The maze opened into a clearing and they came to a slow stop. There was no one in the area, the others must be meeting up on around the bend of the field. The wind was still as restless as it was when they entered the corn. It shoved some of the loose pieces of the dying grass into her shoes, as they were open toed.

"I'm glad you had fun." She couldn't find it in herself to care about those annoying blades of grass because Natsu's other hand was reaching for her face, and when his warm skin connected with her cheek she found it hard to focus on anything besides that moment. Her and Him. Alone.

"I'm glad I came."

A little hesitantly he dipped his head closer to hers. So close that she was able to pick up his next words, despite how low his voice had become. "I'm glad you did too."

His hand was gently wiping the corn seed off of her face. She felt her eyes grow heavier at the relaxing feeling of his skin against hers. The last thing she saw was the reflection of the cloudy sky in his eyes before hers completely closed.

"HEY GUYS, WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG!" A cheery, feminine voice broke through the lenient silence that over took Lucy, shattering the nice moment into pieces. She felt rather than saw Natsu's body move away from hers. The loss of the heat nearly knocked her backwards.

"Was I interrupting something?" Lisanna was now standing a couple feet away, her hands tucked into the jointed pocket of her large sweatshirt. It was so big on her that the hem ended at the tops of her knees.

"N-no." Lucy blamed the stuttering on the cold.

The flash that zipped across Lisanna's eyes was devious if nothing else. "Riiiiiight, and pigs can't fly."

"I _have_ seen pigs fly," Natsu chipped in, snaking an arm around Lucy's waist. He rested his head on the top of hers, absentmindedly blowing at the seeds that were left in her hair, "So she has a valid point there, Luce."

"Wait, what," She roughly shoved away from Natsu and shot him a dirty look, "pigs CAN'T fly. The saying is when I see pigs fly, I'll believe you. They don't say that because they CAN fly, Natsu."

"I've seen it with my own two eyes!"

"Prove it!" She challenged.

"Lisanna was there! It wasn't the weirdest thing I've ever seen either. Just look at Happy. He's a blue flying cat!"

Brown eyes trailed to Lisanna, who was nodding in agreement enthusiastically. She wasn't dumb enough to actually take Natsu seriously, but if Lisanna was vouching for him….

"Whatever."

A wily grin spread across Lisanna's face, her voice was filled with good humor, "So, you admit that I _was _interrupting something?" she quipped.

Today, Lucy learned something that she should have noticed a long time ago. She learned that her friends can be impossible at times.

And right now was one of those times.

* * *

><p>Chapter One: Complete. I hope you liked this one enough to stay tuned. It's not what I wanted it to be like at all, but I'm sorta happy with it none-the-less. I hope the next chapter comes out a little better o.o;<p>

~*Rakora*~


	3. Chapter Two

_**I haven't even re-read this yet. So this is the rough rough draft which means there will be a number of grammar/spelling/plot mistakes. I'll do some edits with it tomorrow, until them I'm going to bed guys. :D**_

_**Lucifer**_

Lucy thought that it was cold yesterday, but compared to the coldness in her bathroom right now, yesterday was like a warm summer day.

She couldn't be sure, but maybe she was so cold because she just got out of the shower. Everyone knows that the first step is always the hardest, and that especially goes for the first step out of the cocooned heat behind the shower curtain.

Or, she supposed that the heater breaking last night could have had a pretty good impact on the temperature of the house.

Quickly, she toweled herself dry and wrapped the now damp towel around her body. Reaching over the sink she wiped the mist off of the mirror and deliberated her reflection. Wet hair cascaded limply down her shoulders. Drops of water running down the individual strands and landed on the cotton material of her towel.

Sometimes she wondered what she'd look like if she had a different hair color. Would she still act the same? Would she be treated differently if she had red hair, blue hair or maybe…pink hair?

Shaking her head, because really, those thoughts were ridiculous, she left the bathroom prepared to be assaulted with more chilled air.

Imagine her surprise and utter confusion when she opened the door, and was greeted by warmth. It was relieving at first, but then she started thinking, and when she thought about things the comforting feeling almost always gets shoved into a corner.

This time was no exception.

Flipping her light switch on, the dark room was plunged into lightness. The first thing she noticed was that the clock on her nightstand read 7:42 in bright red lettering. She had about twenty minutes to get to the guild before her friends had her head. Literally.

The second thing she noticed was the pink haired sitting on her bed like it was a completely normal thing. Which by now, after four years of knowing him, that was completely normal.

But that is beside the point!

"What's beside the point Luce?" His voice was still heavy with sleep. He must have just woken up recently as well. To prove her thoughts he stifled a yawn.

It was funny, because Lucy was angrier at herself for speaking her thoughts out loud a_gain_ than Natsu's break and entry. "What are you even doing here? I thought you were going to meet me at the guild at eight?"

He shrugged. "Wanted to make sure you didn't over sleep. Wouldn't want Erza bruising that pretty face of yours now would we?"

Rolling her eyes, Lucy turned to her vanity table and started picking out a suitable outfit for the days events. Only then did she realize that she had no idea what her friends had planned for her. "So what's going on today? Why is Erza so uptight about it?"

Natsu grinned. "I'm not allowed to tell you where we're going. Erza's orders." He mimicked the motions of locking a padlock in front of his lips.

"I need to know so I can pick out something to wear!"

Natsu looked her up and down. Shifting away awkwardly, Lucy became painfully aware of what she was wearing. Which was basically nothing.

"I don't know, I think what you're wearing now is suitable enough."

"Of course you would."

Standing up, Natsu stepped over to where Lucy stood. She didn't really notice how much taller he was until he was towering over her looking all big and intimidating.

The fact that she was only in a freakin' _towel_ probably had something to do with the unnerving feeling too. If she was uncomfortable spending alone time with him fully clothed, then this was obviously so far out of her comfort zone that the sun seemed close.

"I think you would look even better without the towel though…" He trailed off as he trailed a finger from the underside of her wrist to the beginning of her shoulder. "You have such soft skin too. It's a shame that you hide it so often during the colder seasons." He hummed.

Stiffening, Lucy completely froze up. She felt her face flare up with heat and her head started to spin from the sudden change I ntemperature. Yes, he has touched her before, but it was never like this. Whatever the hell this was.

Shivers ran up her spin when the tip of his finger traced along her collarbone. The touch was teasingly light and inching close to her neck. Unconsciously she extended her neck as far as she could, as if that could stop the touch.

"Luce…" He was leaning in again, his breath splaying across her face.

"Natsu," The heady tone of her voice scarred her, but in a good way. It sent thrills through her limbs and gave whatever sensible part of her brain a good buzz. He exhaled again after she muttered his name.

Then, the smell hit her.

The combination of tuna and olives assaulted her nose and she grimaced. Those were the two foods she hated the most, especially their odors. She would have preferred going her whole life without knowing what the mixture of the two smelt like, too bad nothing ever goes her way.

Because that was the exact stench that was festering in Natsu's mouth.

"God, Natsu," Baring her teeth in an unflattering contortion of her face, she roughly shoved away from him, and when he didn't even budge an inch she maneuvered around him in order to put space between her and that god awful smell, "When was the last time you brushed your teeth?"

"…Brush…Your…teeth?"

Pausing mid stride, Lucy slowly turned to look at him. "You don't know what that is?"

"Why would anyone brush their teeth?"

She imagined the expression that overtook her face painted the perfect picture of horrification because that was exactly what she was, horrified. "EWWWW! That is nasty, Natsu! How do you have any teeth left. I would think that with the amount of junk food you consume on a daily basis you would be brushing your teeth every other hour because they are so white!"

Her irate train of thought was broken by Natsu's boisterous laughter. He clamped a hand down on her shoulder, his nails digging into the bare skin there.

"I take it you never clip your nails either," She had to cross her eyes to look at his fingers, she wasn't surprised to see them as long as hers, "those are girly nails if I've ever seen them."

"They are certainly not girly. I just haven't been on a hard mission in a while. When my body lights on fire it usually burns my nails down." He defended himself, still snickering under his breath.

"Oh, then I suppose that goes for cleaning your freakin' teeth too?"

"No, I do that with a tooth brush," The look on her face must have been funny, because he dissolved into laughter again, "G-Gosh Luce," He breathed, "I-I can't believe you actually believed me. I WAS KIDDING!"

She sighed in aggravation and put her hands on her hips. "If you're not going to tell me where we're going, just get out of my room so I can change."

The next series of events happened in slow motion.

He was about to argue with her and she definitely saw that coming. The evil glint in his eyes and the poise of his lips, yep, he was definitely going to make getting dressed into more of a chore than it already was.

So, she tried to prevent that by cutting him off before he even got one more word out. She ducked out of reach, or almost did.

His hand, which at the time was still resting on her shoulder slide down the front of her body, and just above the tops of her breasts his finger nail caught on the frayed edge of the towel.

It was like that dramatic part in a movie in which time is reduced to the pace of a snail. She watched with wide eyes as he pulled his hand away, none the wiser of what would happen in mere seconds if he kept moving like that.

Or at least she liked to think he didn't know what he was doing. He didn't _look_ like he knew.

She felt the warmth of the cotton towel unravel from around her body. She heard the sound of the only thing covering herself from his greedy eyes hit the floor with a soft, barely audible, thump.

And then she just watched.

Watched the emotions that flew across Natsu's face. Shock, embarrassment, amusement, satisfaction, happiness, inquisitive, and admiration. They were all there.

But when his hand came up to cup her bare boob, the time flow snapped back into place. It was almost like it slapped her in the face.

She screamed. He flinched. She picked up a blunt object and hit him over the head with it. He fell to the ground. She hid his body.

Did she mention that her friends can be impossible at times? If not, then this is as good of an example as any.

"Fuck my life." She grumbled under her breath.

XxXx

Lucy should have figured that with a wakeup call like that that her day was going to bizarre and full of surprise.

But Lucy was never the type to think ahead. Which she should consider doing more often because honestly, she could have mentally prepared herself for what was to come.

"Erza got way too into the corn maze race," Lisanna was saying, "She totally ninja attacked Levy and Gajeel. They didn't even know what hit them. One hit KO would be an understatement."

"Ah, that makes sense. Natsu said that Levy and Gajeel were staying in the same place. I figured they were at a dead end or something so I didn't think about it." Lucy responded, eyes focused on the gravely ground. This time around, she was wearing her ratty sneakers. She refused to have a repeat of what happened in the corn. Especially after what happened with Natsu. She would probably die if Natsu decided to throw her over his shoulder again.

"Well that's why Gajeel and Levy didn't come to this one. They didn't want to face Erza with _this_ event. She was enthusiast about the corn maze, but she's been waiting for this the whole year. I mean just look at her!" Lisanna flung her arm in Erza's direction.

The red head was ahead of the group. At first glance, she looked normal. Her armor and hair style unchanged. But when the wind ruffled her hair out of her face it reveled a wide grin.

Yes, Erza was grinning. Not smiling or smirking but grinning the type of grin that Natsu grinned.

"What is the event anyway? Natsu wouldn't tell me." Lucy was a little ashamed of herself. All she did was say his name and she was blushing.

Lisanna eyed Erza, who was starring at her right back. "I can't tell you that, Erza told everyone not to."

Exasperated, Lucy hunched over. "Why?"

"She said that if you knew you would probably refuse to go."

That wasn't reassuring at all.

XxXx

Erza was right to think that Lucy wouldn't have come if she knew where she was going because now that she knew, she wanted to run and hide.

It was obviously too late for that because they'd already bought the tickets. If Lucy respected anything at all it was money. She refused to waste it.

Plus, Erza would probably kill her if she bailed.

"Alright, are you guys ready?" There was a teenage boy standing at the opening of a path. He was shouting to the small crowd of people. After they paid Erza had told her about the activity.

The first thing she said was that it was better to come early because the line was a lot shorter and the people who ran it were a lot more passionate about their work.

The second thing she said was that this was known as the Devil's Forest, and people were only allowed in it when it was Halloween.

In short, this was the Haunted Woods Walk.

The crowd, in response to the teen, whooped in excitement. Lucy, for her part, groaned. She felt a little queasy. She hoped it was only nerves because it would be unpleasant if she just started vomiting everywhere.

"Without further ado, enter. But be warned, you may not ever come out!" He shouted, stepping to the side and motioning for people to enter.

The group filtered into the woods, and Lucy tried not to think about what she was doing. She has never been inside the forest before. But within the four years she's spent in Mongolia, she has heard rumors.

Rumors about magic. Horrible, horrible magic. Goody-goody.

XxXx

Lucy wasn't sure how it happened, but she was now clinging onto Natsu's arm. They hadn't even stepped three feet into the path and she was already telling herself _not_ to pee herself.

She wouldn't be exaggerating if she said that she had an irrational fear of…well…fear. If there was one thing she hated more than the smell of tuna and olives it was being scared. She didn't like feeling vulnerable [Although, around Natsu now-a-days, vulnerability has become the new black for her].

"Luce, we haven't even been in here for a full two minutes and you're already ready to cut off the circulation in my arm." Natsu stage whispered at her. She looked up to glare at him but it was so dark that she couldn't make out his face. She was pretty sure it was less than a foot away from her.

"Hey Natsu?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you see anything, you know, with your heighten scenes."

He scoffed at her. "Not a thing Luce, not a thing."

Unexpectedly, everything started to violently shake. She clutched to Natsu's arm tighter, pressing her body against his like she could crawl into his body and hide.

She felt the ground opening up right underneath her feet and her voice caught in her throat as she and Natsu plummeted into the gaping hole. The air was hot in there, overbearingly hot and as they rapidly fell deeper into it she found it difficult to breath.

Looking over to Natsu, she noticed that he was unconscious. He was falling head first and his neck was bent at such an unnatural angle that it looked like the hook end of a candy cane. She grabbed for him and gasped loudly when her fingers passed right through him.

An ear piecing scream left her mouth as she starred down at her hands in horror. Plastered to her palm was a gooey cream colored substance. Looking from her hand to his body, she tried to wipe the substance off her hand. It was like trying to get gum out of hair, the more she messed with it the worse it tangled.

Natsu was melting, or at least that was what it looked like. His skin was bubbling and elongating, streams of it suspended in the air above them like gruesome ribbon.

The collision when they hit the ground was so hard that Lucy heard several cracks come from her body, and then her body went entirely numb. Her vision distorted in pain and pixilated into little squares. Frantically, her eyes darted to Natsu who had just landed next to her. The remainder of his body bursted into little boxes of colors on impact and scattered all over the place. The majority of it landing on her.

She tried to roll over so she could do something. _Anything_, but she found that her body was immobilized. Completely useless, she laid there, eyes shooting from side to side nervously.

All she saw was darkness. Nothing more, nothing less, just dark.

But just as she thought that, figures started materializing out of the shadows. Large heads with gaping mouths and pointed teeth. Hands with curled claws. Rabid looking animals. They were all forming and coming directly at her.

The snapping jaw of a large dog was shoved into her face. She tried to move her face away, but she was still paralyzed. Forced to look into the demon red eyes of the beast, she felt tears start to well up at the edges of her eyes in fear.

The clawed hands were ripping at her cloths and the gaping mouths screaming and chanting in her ears. A pounding headache formed from sensory overload and she screamed because that was the only thing she could do. Make her own noise to cover up the other noises. A last ditch effort to protect her sanity.

"LUCYYYYYYYYY!" They were growling. Their voices were so gruff that it felt like they were taking a cheese-grater to her ear drums. "LUCCCCCCCCYYYYYY!" She screamed louder, in hopes of making them go away.

Fingers crawled up her navel. A searing pain ripped up her chest as they moved. Warm liquid ran down the contours of her stomach. She had a good idea what it was.

Then there was an explosion of light and colors and the world was spinning so fast that she felt like she was going to loose whatever food that was in her stomach at any minute. She was flying upward, or maybe it was downward. She couldn't tell, but she was moving and she was moving fast.

Then there was the chanting,

"Lucy. Lucy. Lucy. Lucy."

"LUCCCCCCYYYYYY!"

With a thunderous boom, everything was normal again. She was standing, clutching at Natsu at the beginning at the path. He was intact, his skin smooth and normal.

Sweat poured down her face, but besides that everything was fine. Even her clothes

It was like nothing had happened. Like she didn't just fall into a strange hole. Like she didn't just watch her friend melt away and burst into oddly colored squares. Like there weren't weird figures crawling out of the shadows.

It was completely normal.

"You can now say you've survived your first reality altering magic trip." She has never been so happy to here Natsu's voice, although it was a little hoarse like he'd been screaming.

Her voice probably wasn't much better.

"That's what that was?" It wasn't. She sounded awful.

"Yep." His voice was flat.

"Is it over?"

"We can leave whenever we want now."

She hesitated for only a second. "Get me the fuck out of here then!"

Natsu chuckled tiredly. "Now who has the potty mouth?"

* * *

><p>O.O; Wow. I don't know about you guys, but I think that last part was freakin' intense.<p> 


End file.
